though I think they changed the ending of the original one cuz I swear as a kid they got on the elevator and it never stopped going. Then I watched it again a few weeks ago and the ending was different. I'm talking about the 70s version with Gene Wilder btw. Still this is another favorite movie of mine.

I just saw the IMAX version of The Dark Knight. After also seeing it in a normal theater, I have to say the IMAX version is definitely superior. Maybe not enough to justify the difference in cost but it was cool. The director did a great job choosing which scenes to film with which camera.

While it's not the first time I saw it, I watched Superman Returns for the first time on Blu-Ray a few nights ago. I was amazed at how shitty the CGI sequences were in hi-def which didn't bother me in standard DVD. They were perhaps even worse than the first Spider-Man. I enjoyed the movie, though.

I don't know, I think Crystal Skull was a lot better than Temple of Doom. It still had the Indiana Jones spirit that Temple of Doom lacked.

I actually thought A.I. was one of Spielberg's best movies. War of the Worlds wasn't that bad, either. Not his best, but certainly not his worst. Although I never understood why everyone thought Dakota Fanning was such a great actress in that movie, considering all she ever did was scream -- she reminded me of the little girl in Aliens.

The Lost World was probably one of Spielberg's worst movies. I thought it was awful and hardly Spielberg quality.

Saving Private Ryan was just relentlessly boring, and it was nowhere near as gory as I had imagined, so I was sort of let down. Munich was also boring, overall.

I also find Saving Private Ryan to be horrendously overrated. The Thin Red Line was the superior WWII film of 1998. It was much better-looking than SPR, too, and that is usually a latter-day Spielberg strong point.

I think the motorcycle chase in Crystal Skull is the equal of pretty much any action sequence in any of the first three films. The difference is, again, that the first three have had time to become iconic in people's minds, and so the contest is rigged. It's just like how people reminisce about the "good old days", even if they're better off now.

I never cared much for Lucas, I always thought he was a hack that got lucky once with the first Star Wars film. But Spielberg (and by extension, Kahn) has made some exceptional films in recent years and I see no reason to put him out to pasture because there have been a few clunkers. It's only because he's trying to live up to "70s and 80s Spielberg" that the current Spielberg suffers by comparison. Anyone else who had Spielberg's 90s and 00s filmography would be roundly praised.

Just as an experient, let's look at his recent work. I'm going to arbitrarily pick the last 15 years of his career, since I think Jurassic Park is what a lot of people see as his last great action movie.

Schindler's List
The Lost World
Amistad
Saving Private Ryan
AI: Artificial Intelligence
Minority Report
Catch Me If You Can
The Terminal
War Of The Worlds
Munich
Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull

In that list are a Best Picture winner (Schindler's List) and two other Best Picture nominees (Saving Private Ryan and Munich). Note that the nomination of Munich was as recent as 2005. I'd say that all on the list are at the least above average, and all but three (Lost World, AI, The Terminal) were widely praised upon their release.

Again, any other director with this filmography would be considered among the best. A director that might be past his peak can still make some amazing films, and Spielberg has. Just cause he's not batting a thousand anymore doesn't mean he's done.

Edited to expand my film nerd rant

I was disappointed by Saving Private Ryan, War of the Worlds, and The Crystal Skull. I actually find Spielberg's 1985-1992 period to be lesser than the '90s and early-'00s stuff, at least when you keep it strictly to movies he directed himself. 2002, in particular, was a great year for Spielberg. The most negative trend of the more recent stuff has been excessive length and extended dull-as-dirt passges. I hope he bounces back after what was the fourth-best Indiana Jones.